The Canon line, which will be used to produce short runs of books and journals for publishers, concludes a £2m spending drive that also saw the company take on a Komori Lithrone G29 H-UV press in February to replace a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster CD and produce work for its commercial and mailing divisions.

In October last year, Severn was purchased out of an employee ownership trust by its two principal directors, Ian Smith and Martin Clegg, with a view to pushing its growth.

Smith said: “We are delighted to see the new Colorstream come online. It complements our other digital capabilities perfectly, as well as our paperback and hardback bindery. It meets a client need for cost effective production of books and journals and doubles our capacity for these products.

“Private ownership allows for faster expansion and improved speed of business diversification; with the management and board the same as before, our focus has been on new investment.

“In the past two years, revenue has grown without a linear increase in staff achieved through the development, integration and automation in systems and process along with re-tooling the business with the best equipment, which in many cases has synergies across all the markets we serve.”

With a current headcount of 54 staff, Severn is on track to hit £6m turnover in 2019, providing services to more than 500 clients, including 50 in the publishing sector.

Clegg added: “With our factory now working 24 hours and seven days per week, we are building on our great portfolio of customers. Our operations are entirely powered by renewable energy and we are an award-winning environmental printing company.

“This fits well with the needs of many customers, where the environmental impact of buying decisions are facing increasing levels of scrutiny.”

Canon’s Océ Colorstream 3900 runs at a print speed up to 1,714ppm A4, width up to 540mm and resolution up to 1,200dpi. The five-colour Komori Lithrone G29 prints a maximum sheet size of 530x750mm at speeds up to 16,500sph.

Severn’s 2019 investment drive follows a similar initiative in 2018 which saw the arrival of the i300 alongside a Canon imagePress C8000VP, a Horizon BQ-470 perfect binder, two enclosing lines from Neopost and a Komfi Delta 52 laminator to its 2,044sqm premises.